Authority—Before the Fall

Genesis 1:27 NIV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

What Is Your Place In This World?

If you were asked the question, “What is your place in this world”, how would you respond?  Most of us would probably consider our careers.  Have I done well?  Am I successful?  Is my job a good fit for me?  Am I leaving my mark?  Has my life mattered?  Many would think also of their families and how they have impacted those close to them.  Am I respected?  Do others love me?  Does it matter to anyone if I have lived or not?   I have worked with plenty of people who hated their jobs.  They concentrate more on their cell phones than they do on their work.  I was recently in a class room and I looked about and saw all the other children’s workers checking their phones rather than interacting with the kids.  How many of us wonder if what we do counts for anything and have quit trying to do our best because it does not seem to matter if we work hard or not.

Life was much different before Sin entered the universe.  One area of great change was the way the first people fit into the world they were given.  Authority shifted dramatically in the post sin world.  Let us look at how it was at first and we could gain valuable insight into the way it once more may be.  When the Lord declared His mission statement for the people He created, it was to be in effect ruler over the earth.  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Genesis 1:26 NIV)  The Hebrew word for “image” here means something made to look like something else.  “Likeness” translates another Hebrew word that means, “of a similar appearance, something that something else.

God made people like He did so that they would be a good fit for taking charge over the earth.  It is like hiring someone who has all the qualities needed to be a successful sales rep.  Only God did the work of creating the ideal ruler of His new world.  Some have contended that the Lord made the earth so that people would have a great place to live.  It actually is more accurate to say that God made people in a perfect way to take authority over the world He created.  The first command we have recorded in Scripture is the Lord’s order to Adam and Eve to populate the earth and rule over the creatures of the world.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."  (Genesis 1:28 NIV)

The Hebrew term translated “subdue” is similar in idea to the command to rule.  It means to take charge, be the one that makes the rules.  Consider carefully what a unique situation this was, one completely foreign to any of us.  It was a sinless world ruled by a sinless people.  The creatures had nothing to fear of their sovereign kings and queens.  Adam and Eve had no reason to hurt any of them.  The two were vegetarians and did not need nor want to kill the animals for food.  They also were naked and were not looking for clothing either.  Not even the sheep had to concern themselves with being “fleeced”.  There would be no fishing and hunters would not be hiding up in tree stands.  Adam and Eve were to be the perfect caretakers of a world they ruled.

A lovely picture of just how profound the relationship was between Adam and the creatures of the earth is the brief comment made in Genesis 2 about how the Lord made it clear that His first human was taking charge.  God gave Adam the opportunity to pick out names for each of the terrestrial creatures.  Few have noted the beauty of the moment.  Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. (Genesis 2:19-20 NIV)  Consider the serenity as individually the birds and creatures of the land peacefully paraded past Adam and the Lord, giving Adam time to carefully consider what to name each one.  Like a father or a mother who thoughtfully comes up with a name for a newborn, Adam was a loving parent to the creatures of the world.  With great affection in his heart for each one, Adam picked out what seemed to be the perfect name for the gentle and trusting beasts God brought him.

Genesis 2:15 is often listed as the mandate for work found in Scripture but it is much more than that.  It is the holy calling of the people of the world to care for God’s creation and cherish it as a gift of immeasurable worth.  In a land unscarred by Sin, it must have been a place of exquisite beauty.  More than work to Adam and Eve, caring for the world before them was a joyful daily existence, much like the park ranger assigned to Yosemite when it first opened or the curator of the Louvre who is appointed to keeping pristine the magnificent works of art found there.  The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15 NIV)  What “working it” entailed in a perfect world cannot be said for certain but we must believe it was a joyous responsibility.  The Hebrew term translated “work it” is built on the root of the word for servant.  Adam and Eve were to be servant kings of the land where they lived, caring for it and adding value to it.  “Take care of it” is the translation of the Hebrew verb “shamar” which means to keep, preserve, watch and protect.

The perfect analogy for the work of Adam and Eve in the land God gave them is the description of the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23.  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4 NIV)  As protector and guardian of the sheep, the shepherd, at least the good one, is always looking for ways to make life better for the sheep.  The shepherd lightens the load for the sheep, does everything possible to enable the sheep to prosper and have good lives.  The good shepherd does not see the sheep as dumb beasts but as jewels in her crown.  Work in a perfect world such as the one the Lord gave Adam and Eve was a joy and a cherished responsibility.

Jesus gave the calling of work its highest affirmation when He spoke of Himself as a mere shepherd.  The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.  The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."   Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them…"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.  (John 10:2-6, 11-14 NIV)

Work is not a chore for such a person as this.  It is an act of love and selflessness.  Some people work to earn a paycheck and make names for themselves.  Others, like Adam as he went about the tasks God gave him, made his world a better place. Jesus did the same.  If you live as a future resident of God’s perfect world, you have a choice each day.  Will you build up others and improve their lot in life or will you take advantage of others and use them to get your way?  Wherever you go, and whatever you do, you have the opportunity to make the world a better place because you were a part of it.

Broken Bread

Luke 24:35 NIV

Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Does It Matter To You What Christ Wants?

The world is morphing at light speed.  Yet the most important parts of life have not changed a whit since Adam and Eve left the garden and pursued their dreams with Sin permeating their thinking.  We must contend with the same concerns David, the second King of Israel, did as well as those of the disciples who followed Jesus.  Last week I was asked by someone whose opinion matters to me, “Why do you stay with that same little church?  Why don’t you do something different?”  Someone else wanted to know what I planned on doing with the books I have written.  The implication was that my life might improve if I made certain changes.  Of course I was glad that people I love care about me and I knew they meant well but both times I found my heart pricked by a pang of disappointment that troubled me.  Why do I face so many difficulties?  What can I do to improve my life?  Do I need to make a change?  Should I be a bit more proactive in meeting my own needs?  Have I thrown away my life doing what I do?

You have important decisions to make about how you will use the time you have been given.  It is a bit daunting trying to have the best life possible because you only have one shot at it and then you are finished, at least with this temporal existence.  Without becoming overly melodramatic, there is a certain urgency to your decisions, as probably you want to make the most of what you do and squeeze out of your life the greatest amount of fulfillment you can.  There has been a philosophy which nearly all people around the world have adopted and it is illustrated by a request two of Jesus’ disciples had for Christ.  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."   "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." (Mark 10:35-37 NIV)

Is it crazy to want something for yourself?  Don’t you have a right to try and make the most of your life, to achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams?  The Christian community generally believes James and John were philosophically in step with the great human push for fulfillment and personal achievement.  Much of the Church promotes this line of thinking and in fact usually celebrates it.  Jesus however seemed perturbed by the request and His response to the brothers reflected that.  Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (Mark 10:42-45 NIV)

This of course was not what the disciples were expecting and if it were not for our familiarity with the text, it would not be for us either.  Consider carefully Jesus’ response when told by the twelve disciples that the huge crowd He had been teaching was famished.  "You give them something to eat." (Luke 9:13 NIV)  What were they supposed to do?  They didn’t have the money to pay for food for the crowd of thousands and although they were able to come up with two small fish and five loaves of bread between them, it seemed ludicrous to think they should provide food for all the people.  Keep in mind what Jesus demanded.  He did not expect them to be able to feed everyone.  He did tell the disciples to give the crowd the food they had after He blessed it.  There was no room here for the twelve to get a snack for themselves first before they started giving away the bread and fish.  They had to hand over all they had without any promise of getting any of it back.

The Sermon on the Mount is often read but rarely taken seriously.  We solemnly proclaim it as “God’s word” but mostly ignore it.  Notice the theme woven throughout.  Here is just a quick overview of some of what is found in it.  Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:39-42 NIV)  And then He tells us what to do about our enemies.  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...(Matthew 5:44 NIV)  Further, we are not even free to entertain ourselves however we want in the sanctity of our own mind.  I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  (Matthew 5:28-29 NIV)  Even if we are justified in our anger over how we are treated, we do not have the right to hold a grudge.  We are to forgive immediately any mistreatment we have received.  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  (Matthew 6:14-15 NIV)  Perhaps most difficult of all, we are not free to criticize others.  "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1 NIV)

If you put all of these admonitions of Christ together, you do not find a formula for success!  In fact, it does not even seem to matter to God how things go for you, whether you are liked or not, whether you have fun or don’t, whether you get what you have earned or you are cheated out of what you deserve.  You are here it seems, to make the lives of others better no matter how much it costs you.  That of course is not the Christianity we find promoted but it is what Christ has said Christianity is.  I recently heard of a pastor who discovered a couple of bags of trash dumped in the church dumpster by someone from the neighbor and not with the church.  He found somehow the address of who it was that left it there and brought all the trash back to the person’s house.  Is that what we find described in the Sermon on the Mount?

The Old Testament has a lovely picture of how Christianity is intended to look.  In the badly corrupted kingdom of Israel, a pagan king and queen ruled.  The person they put in charge of their palace was Obadiah, a man of faith who risked his life to save over a hundred prophets of God from being murdered by King Ahab’s soldiers.  The great prophet Elijah approached Obadiah while Obadiah was walking through the countryside.  Elijah wanted a meeting with King Ahab and asked Obadiah to arrange it due to his connection as palace administrator. 

As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, "Is it really you, my lord Elijah?"   "Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, 'Elijah is here.'"  "What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?  As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you.  But now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.'  I don't know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth.  Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water…And now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' He will kill me!" (1 Kings 18:7-10, 14)

Obadiah faced a very real dilemma.  Would he risk his life to do what Elijah asked?  Without complaint he already had done more than enough to qualify as a good and godly man but now it felt like too much to ask of him.  Many will only go so far when it comes to practicing Christianity.  When it gets uncomfortable or inconvenient, how easy to just walk away from the tough demand of God!  Many Christian people are good at telling God, “No!”  Obadiah took the demand of Elijah as some sort of punishment. “What have I done wrong?”  He had not done anything wrong!  He was in fact gloriously right in his actions.  So why did God put him in such a dangerous spot?  God chose Obadiah to bless God’s people by giving up his right to manage his life as he saw fit.    How would he do it?  By opening the door for Elijah to speak with King Ahab!

We do not choose how God will use us to feed the world.  Like bread that is broken off and shared or juice that is poured into a cup and passed along, we are nourishment for a world hungry for God.  Your ignoring of an insult, generous gift, kind words, moral purity, love for people who should be despised is the bread God uses to feed starving people.   You may say that it does not matter if I hold back my criticism but you cannot know who will notice what you have done and be drawn to Christ by it.  When you are not aware of God using you, when you are simply doing the good thing our Lord has said to do, Christ will use that good thing to nourish someone, encourage someone, strengthen someone or heal a wound in someone.  You may not know in your lifetime what a great deed you did simply by forgiving someone or not paying attention to the mistake that person made but someday you will see how you were nourishing bread for a person starving for the generosity of God; thirsty for His mercy.

Imagine the tiny desert lily, hidden away next to a rock but without warning a gentle breeze carries its fragrance off to an unsuspecting soul who at the moment it reaches her, gains courage to try to put her marriage back together, stop drinking or find enough hope to go to one more job interview.  In that instant, the forgotten lily becomes the hand of God when He seemed to be no longer there.  You are that lily and by just doing what God says to do, your fragrance brings hope once more to those who may have lost hope along the way.  Never underestimate the power of Christ to transform your simple actions of generosity, kindness and forgiveness into the power God uses to put together new lives through the Gospel of Christ.

The Life We Know And The Life We Don't

Psalm 25:21 NIV
May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.

Recently the wild child Lindsey Lohan was in the news because she was named in a lawsuit alleging she stole a fur coat from a friend whose party she was attending. Now, the most important question for us is not whether she did it or not but whether that same sort of absurdity is in us too. Of course it makes no sense whatsoever for this multi-millionaire actress to go about stealing coats. But is she alone in her fractured state? Is she the only one of us who does things that don’t make any sense, who say things we can’t believe we said, who act nothing like we are? The other day I was driving along and someone cut in front of me. This little housewife when she made her lane change easily could have slid behind my car but must have decided in some dark part of her soul that it was crucial she take from me my lead. Angered by the idiocy of her act, I did an equally absurd thing. I swiftly changed lanes and made my move to get back my spot on the road. Of course I immediately got trapped behind a slow moving truck and was forced, if I were to make my left turn, to cut in front of the woman immediately behind the person I was trying to conquer. This infuriated the woman I cut off, and after I slipped into the left turning lane, she, as she passed by me cocked her head back to give me the evil stare down. The idiot I sought was now the idiot I was.

There are several Lindsey Lohans in scripture that acted absurdly. In the Old Testament is the barely remembered servant of the prophet Elisha. Gehazi was Elisha’s right hand man and the witness of spectacular miracles. But it was one of those miracles that was his undoing. When the Aramean, Naaman came to Elisha begging for a cure from his leprosy, Elisha gave the general a perplexing prescription. “Go” he told the foreigner, “and dip your whole body into the Jordan River seven times and your flesh will be restored.” Naaman thought Elisha was clueless and at first refused to do what he was told, despising the soupy Jordan. But when Naaman’s servants advised him to give it a try, he trooped down to the Jordan, dunked himself seven times and to his amazement came up out of the water totally healed. Stunned and eternally grateful to the prophet, Naaman and his retinue returned immediately to thank Elijah for what he had done Gehazi the servant stood by in shocked silence as his master Elijah turned down Naaman’s offer of a million dollars in gold and silver as a gift for the healing.

Faithful servants don’t often betray their masters but Gehazi could not stare down all that gold and silver without making a go of it. Surreptitiously Gehazi slipped out and chased down Naaman.and lied to him that his master Elisha changed his mind and actually did want some of the silver and two changes of clothes. Naaman immediately obliged and Gehazi rushed home with his cache. Finally returning to Elisha with his treasures safely hidden away, Gehazi was shocked to learn that Elisha already knew about his covert trip to Naaman, knew about the story he made up to get the silver and clothes from him and knew he had his loot hidden away at home. Gehazi’s punishment was swift and heavy handed. The leprosy Naaman had just escaped fell upon Gehazi. Could Lindsay Lohan top that?

A second Lindsay Lohan is actually a pair of them…the infamous Ananias and Sapphira. We know their story all too well. When many of the early Christians were selling off property and giving the proceeds to the Church, one of the couples in the group thought they would join in the extravagance. No one told them they had to give anything; there were no rules about sacrifice and generosity in the Church. But Ananias and Sapphira decided they also would sell a field and give the proceeds to the church. The catch though, was that they wanted everybody to think they had given all their profits when in fact some of the earnings they were keeping for themselves. Again, there was no rule that said they couldn’t do this, keep part, but why did they lie about it. It was a disastrous Lindsey Lohan moment. God immediately struck each of them dead when they lied to Peter about their charity.

A third Lindsey Lohan is the Apostle Peter himself. When the Christian community made its thrust into the non Jewish world and started winning Gentile converts to Christ, the Jewish Christians were thrown into a tizzy. What kind of expectations should be placed on these Gentile believers? Should they have to keep the Jewish Law too? Would they need to eat only Kosher? What about the Sabbath and circumcision and Feast days and morality? What were the requirements for good Christian living if you weren’t raised Jew? Finally it was settled that only four Jewish restrictions would remain. No eating meat of strangled animals, no drinking blood, no feasting on food offered to idols and no sexual immorality. That was it. The sum total of Jewish requirements Gentiles had to keep to remain good Christians. Peter though still had friends who thought this wasn’t enough. Gentile believers really had to be Jews if they were to be accepted. On the other hand, he had good Christian friends who were Gentiles that thought the entire Jewish legalism thing was rubbish. When Peter was with them he was fine with the freedom of Christian faith. But then Christian Jewish legalists came to town and Peter slithered away from his Gentile friends because he was afraid of what his Jewish friends thought of them. A Lindsey Lohan moment!

What is the point of connection between these three incidents? Each time someone did something ridiculous that was completely out of character and totally unnecessary. Gehazi needed neither the silver nor the clothes, Ananias and Sapphira didn’t even have to sell their field if they didn’t want to do so and Peter had no reason to be afraid of the opinions of his Jewish brothers. Integrity is not just moral character; it is defined as wholeness, as unity, as the state of being complete. The Greek word most often translated integrity in the New Testament is “alethia”; it describes the condition of truth, or trueness within. It is what the Pharisees, who were trying to trick Jesus into condemning Caesar’s taxation, had to say of Him…Jesus was a man of “alethia” or trueness. Integrity is more than simply doing the right thing; it is true character spilling out into common activities.

Integrity is a frequent theme in the Old Testament, often found in the Psalms and Proverbs. The word most frequently used to express integrity is the Hebrew term “Tome”. It describes completeness, fullness, simplicity and innocence. Tome is a state of maturity that develops into a lifestyle of innocence brought on by a whole-hearted walk with God. David spoke of integrity as a source of protection, a sort of castle where he could find safety. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. Psalm 25:21 NIV Integrity is etched in God. You cannot divorce the two from one another. A person without God is a tangle of turmoil, of competing values and concerns. The one housed in God, living within Him has wholeness, purpose, direction. Proverbs 10:9 expresses this perfectly. The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out. Literally, the one walking within integrity walks peacefully and confidently but the one taking crooked paths is made known..or uncovered.

Integrity is not what you do, it is who you are. It is a state within rather than a set of actions without. And yet, one is never a person of integrity without the straight paths being taken. Now the mistake many make in trying to lay out a plan for taking up integrity is setting a list of rules or standards that plant you in a moral Christian box. Integrity is not cheating on your wife, not stealing from the 7/11, working hard and earning your salary, avoiding gossip, living up to your promises, paying your taxes and setting high standards of what you watch and read. Integrity for most is a do list that if you are reasonably successful gives you permission to rip anyone else who isn’t your moral equivalent. It is the Christian equivalent of the Hindu caste system.

Now lest you think I am implying that integrity means a sort of free-wheeling whatever goes Gnostic moralism, that is not so. Integrity is a change in me that is unmistakable and discernable.
But it isn’t me making me. It is God reshaping my life into His image. Let me share a scriptural example. When Solomon insisted that we aren’t to go around righting all the wrongs done us, he wasn’t just talking about personal revenge. He was describing a revolutionary way of life that lives by faith. Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you. (Proverbs 20:22 NIV) The Lord is insisting that whatever you need to be secure will be done by Him to you….The key to this is that God does not promise to bomb blast your enemies, your problems, your messed up work plans. He will instead rescue, or better, save you. Take matters in your own hands and you might quite well blow up your enemies and everyone who aggravates you but there will be no deliverance, no “saving”.

There is one more scripture that defines integrity. All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:2 NIV) This may be one of the most disconcerting verses in scripture. It insists that every road we take is a straight one to us…we see nothing crooked in our ways. But God knows what it really is in us. We can be and often are terribly misdirected, thinking we have gotten it right…what we’ve said, how we have reacted, what we decided, but we have veered horribly off course. Imagine taking a trip to Hawaii in your million dollar boat and winding up in French Guyana or Manteca. Worse yet, being there and not knowing you aren’t even close to Hawaii. That is what each of us do day after day, year after year with our integrity because we don’t know our heart nor the real force behind our actions. Without the heart being straight, the integrity of the journey is crooked and will land us nowhere and anywhere both at once.

How do I stop being a Lindsey Lohan, having rational, logical explanations for nonsensical behaviors? My heart must be shaped by God. Proverbs 19: 1 is a bit of a twisted, unbalanced verse if you don’t get what integrity is. A literal translation is, “Better a poor man of integrity than a dullard of twisted speech.” The contrast would seem to be the poor man and a rich man or a wise man and a fool but what we find is that neither is true. The opposite of a fool is one made poor. Not every poor man lacks money but every poor man lacks. This is the fundamental rule behind integrity. Integrity is built by me being made empty and letting God fill me. Why is it so crucial that I don’t try to fix those who frustrate me, settle matters with those who harm me and square off all the difficulties I face and avoid them. It is because when God makes me poor, whether it’s through what others do to me or through circumstances that make life hard, I am developing integrity. Integrity is God, percolating within me and giving me a rebuilt heart and will.

There are four commands that seem completely unreasonable to the crooked man. They are: do not divorce, do not fight back , do not hold grudges and do not judge. All four are a direct assault on self-will and the crooked heart. All four require I give up my right to do as I wish and require I trust God to make right my messy life. There is a fifth hub though within integrity. A heart can not ever be made whole unless it stops complaining about what God brings.

There is a fascinating little vignette in Job 2 that is unfortunately most remembered because Job’s wife encouraged him to curse God and die. Yet the most important part of the entire two part dialogue is her question to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity?” Job’s response is most enlightening if we too want to have whole lives, if we want our inner heart to be free of Lindsey Lohan urges. He asks pointedly, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Here is the key to integrity. The Hebrew word receive is rooted in the idea of being led by. The gist of this is that integrity flourishes within us when we let God lead us with the good things, the pleasant things and we also let Him lead us with hat we deem evil, ugly, unpleasant, sometimes even unbearable things of life. Integrity is built in us when we refuse to jump off the train God has made us His passenger. How do we do this? We don’t rip those we find frustrating, we don’t leave those who make our lives hard and we don’t make pain the worst of our enemies. The question before us is the same as Job’s question for his wife. Shall I be led only by God if it led is pleasant and not when it pains me? The straight path turns crooked when one is abandoned for the sake of the other. It is both the good and the bad that God brings my way, that keep my road straight and sure.